| Conservative Texans Love To Fight The Feds Until They Need Them Posted: 31 Aug 2017 09:39 AM PDT  WASHINGTON ― For Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), suing the federal government is a point of pride.
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| Armed suspects rob pub full of police officers attending party Posted: 31 Aug 2017 08:23 AM PDT  Police arrested two men quicker than ever on Tuesday evening after they attempted to rob a bar at gunpoint, where a group of off-duty cops were also having a retirement party.
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| Beaumont, Texas, In Crisis After City Loses Water Supply Indefinitely Posted: 31 Aug 2017 06:58 AM PDT  BEAUMONT ― Residents of this city in eastern Texas are desperate for clean water after the main municipal water pumps failed due to flooding.
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| Police find van of family of 6 believed to have been swept away by Hurricane Harvey Posted: 30 Aug 2017 11:07 AM PDT  Officials announced on Twitter they have located a van they believe may have belonged to a family of six who was swept away by raging flood waters brought by Hurricane Harvey on Monday.
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| When Rescue Efforts Seemed Impossible, Texas Civilians Performed Miracles Posted: 30 Aug 2017 06:43 AM PDT  HOUSTON ― Driving toward downtown Houston has been a near impossibility in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
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| Before and after photos: Harvey's devastating floods are clearly visible from space Posted: 31 Aug 2017 01:57 PM PDT  Even from space, the flooding disaster caused by Hurricane Harvey is clear as day. New images taken by DigitalGlobe's WorldView-2 satellite show the catastrophic flooding in Texas left in the wake of Harvey this week. The new photos are particularly striking when compared with earlier images taken from orbit that show green fields instead of brown, flooded land. SEE ALSO: Tropical Storm Harvey's mind-blowing stats "Since Aug. 19, DigitalGlobe's constellation of five high-resolution imaging satellites has taken 77 images of the Texas coastline, totaling more than 180,000 square kilometers from Corpus Christi to Port Arthur," DigitalGlobe said in a statement. "Now that the clouds have parted, the imagery is starting to reveal the vast impact of the flooding across the region." Angleton, TX on April 6, 2017Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Angleton, TX on August 30, 2017Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Brookshire, TX on November 20, 2016Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Brookshire, TX on August 2016Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Harvey is a record-setting beast of a storm. The storm, which initially hit land as a Category 4 hurricane but then transitioned into a tenacious tropical storm, is now considered the most extreme rainstorm in recorded U.S. history. Harvey dumped more than 19 trillion gallons of water on Texas in less than a week. The storm produced 51.88 inches of rain at Cedar Bayou, Texas, beating the all-time state and continental U.S. rainfall records for the heaviest rainfall ever seen in a tropical storm or hurricane. In addition, Harvey brought 30-inches or more of rain to such a large area that it qualifies as an unprecedented rainfall event since record-keeping began in the U.S. 1895. A staggering 23 locations in Texas saw 40 inches or more of rain. To put this into perspective, some areas saw a year's worth of rain in just 4 days or less. Holiday Lakes, TX on April 3, 2017Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Holiday Lakes, TX on August 30, 2017Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Rosenberg, TX on April 3, 2017Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Rosenberg, TX on August 30, 2017Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe In Beaumont, Texas on Aug. 29, 26.03 inches of rain fell in 24 hours. That obliterated the previous record for the wettest day and even beat that city's all-time monthly rainfall record by nearly 4 inches. DigitalGlobe is planning to provide their images for recovery efforts. The full impact of the devastation caused by Harvey is only just starting to become clear as the storm moves away from Texas. Wharton, TX on October 9, 2016Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Wharton, TX on August 30, 2017Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Wharton, TX on October 9, 2016Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Wharton, TX on August 30, 2017Image: satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe Andrew Freedman contributed reporting to this story. WATCH: Catastrophic floods turn Texas highway into a large body of water with intense waves
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| CNN reporter dramatically rescues man caught in Harvey's floodwaters Posted: 30 Aug 2017 01:57 PM PDT  A CNN reporter rescued a Texas man when the truck he was driving started sinking in floodwater in a treacherous moment caught on camera.
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| Chris Christie: Ted Cruz Is Lying About Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill Posted: 30 Aug 2017 02:01 AM PDT  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) didn't hold back in attacking Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for saying he opposed a Hurricane Sandy relief package because "two-thirds of the bill" had nothing to do with the disaster.
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| Feds: Ex-inmate with ISIS flag tattoo arrested in gun sting Posted: 31 Aug 2017 03:42 PM PDT  McLEAN, Va. (AP) — An ex-convict arrested Thursday on a gun charge became a supporter of the Islamic state group radicalized during his incarceration and wanted to join the organization overseas, according to an FBI affidavit.
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| Bipartisan Group of Governors Propose Obamacare Fixes, Beg Congress To Consider Posted: 31 Aug 2017 11:46 AM PDT  A bipartisan group of eight governors on Thursday handed Congress a proposal for shoring up the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces, which in many states remain extremely fragile enterprises.
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| Teen saves horse trapped by Harvey's rising floodwaters with dad's help Posted: 29 Aug 2017 07:08 PM PDT  For days, Chance Ward and his son have been wading through deep water on horseback to save animals trapped by Tropical Storm Harvey's torrential rain. Ward, of Cleveland, Texas, shared pictures and videos of their rescue efforts on Facebook, highlighting just how devastated the region has become. One video that shows his 17-year-old son, Rowdy, letting loose a horse locked inside a pen as water rises above the fidgety animal's legs has gone viral, reaching 8.9 million views since it was posted Monday. SEE ALSO: Houston's local businesses pitch in as Harvey's flooding wreaks havoc "This is what we do, we help livestock. We try to help people," Ward wrote on Facebook. On Tuesday, Ward posted he had saved another four horses and he worked with several others to bring hundreds of cattle to higher ground. Another video shows him helping a man and his swimming dog. Mashable reached out to Ward for further comment. In a touching Facebook post, Ward reflects on helping the animals in need alongside his son. Harvey, which made landfall as a powerful hurricane on Friday and has continued to burden the Gulf Coast of Texas as a tropical storm, has set an all-time continental U.S. rainfall record of 51.88 inches. The rain slowed Tuesday evening in the Houston area, but the flooding emergencies continue. Harvey's wet wrath will hit Louisiana, coastal Mississippi, and Alabama, as well. Ward, his son, and their fellow helpers are not the only citizen saviors. Others have also come out to help people trapped by the devastating flood waters in Texas, including volunteer-led grassroots organizations such as the Cajun Navy, Louisiana Navy, and Texas Navy. "We make livestock our first priority, as I know many are helping people," Ward wrote on Facebook. WATCH: Hurricane Harvey is the strongest hurricane to hit the US in 12 years
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| Hungry North Korean soldiers 'ordered to steal corn because war is imminent' Posted: 31 Aug 2017 03:20 AM PDT  As North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un boasts of his military prowess and flaunts his high tech weapons to the world, his malnourished soldiers are said to be stealing corn from fields to stave off hunger pangs. Officers are ordering their troops to supplement their meagre food rations by plundering local fields, in order to keep up their strength for battle, according to a report in the Daily NK. "The military officers are instructing their soldiers, exhausted after training, to eat corn in the fields because war is imminent," a source in North Hamgyong Province told the news website. Inside North Korea "They are even threatening their soldiers, saying: if you become malnourished despite permission to eat the corn, you will face difficulties." Another source in Ryanggang Province claimed that soldiers carrying big sacks of unripened corn had frequently been spotted trying to sell their wares at markets. The desperate conditions of his army paints a stark contrast with Mr Kim's brash threats since he fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a target strike exercise conducted by the special operation forces of the Korean People's Army Credit: AFP On Wednesday he hailed the test as a "good experience in…rocket operation for an actual war" and as a "meaningful prelude to containing" Guam, the US Pacific territory he threatened with missile strikes earlier this month. North Korean citizens, some of whom now have to guard their fields from marauding troops, are reported to be unimpressed by his bravado. "An increasing number of residents are pointing out that, for them, provoking the US is a losing battle," the Daily NK reported. Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers applaud as they watch a screen showing the missile test launch, in Pyongyang Credit: AFP
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| Mumbai building collapses after torrential rain Posted: 31 Aug 2017 09:53 AM PDT ![Mumbai building collapses after torrential rain]( "Mumbai building collapses after torrential rain") An 117-year-old condemned building collapsed in the Indian financial hub of Mumbai on Thursday after torrential rains this week, killing at least 22 people, with about 10 other people feared trapped, police and fire official said.
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| How to Distinguish Between Antifa, White Supremacists, and Black Lives Matter Posted: 31 Aug 2017 04:00 AM PDT ![How to Distinguish Between Antifa, White Supremacists, and Black Lives Matter]( "How to Distinguish Between Antifa, White Supremacists, and Black Lives Matter") As protesters clash in occasionally violent street confrontations that spread via online video, provoking emotional conversations that could touch almost anyone on Facebook or Twitter, millions of Americans feel pressure to pick a side, to support or denounce a faction, knowing that whatever they say about white supremacists, Antifa, or Black Lives Matter, they risk being criticized for failing to condemn violence on "their side," or for suggesting a false equivalence between groups.
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| Kellyanne Conway Blasts Chris Cuomo For Harvey Climate Change Question Posted: 31 Aug 2017 03:30 AM PDT  Don't get Kellyanne Conway started on climate change.
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| Meet the Man Who Turned His Furniture Stores Into Shelters for Harvey Victims Posted: 30 Aug 2017 01:50 PM PDT  The popular furniture store owner is now housing 400 displaced residents
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| Hundreds of Puerto Ricans protest, decry austerity measures Posted: 30 Aug 2017 07:30 PM PDT  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hundreds of Puerto Ricans took to the streets of the island's capital on Wednesday to protest austerity measures as anger builds over an unrelenting economic crisis that has hit the working class especially hard.
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| Texas Mother Dies Saving 3-Year-Old Daughter From Harvey Floods Posted: 30 Aug 2017 12:33 AM PDT  A 41-year-old woman who was trying to save herself and her child died on Tuesday afternoon after being swept away by floodwaters in Beaumont, Texas, police said.
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| With Ivanka Trump's Blessing, White House Ditches Equal Pay Rule Posted: 30 Aug 2017 08:17 AM PDT  Days after issuing a bland statement supporting women's equality, the Trump administration halted a key equal pay initiative on Tuesday put in place by the Obama administration.
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| Musharraf declared fugitive in ex-Pakistan PM Bhutto's murder trial Posted: 30 Aug 2017 05:41 PM PDT  A Pakistani court Thursday branded former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder trial, but acquitted five men accused of being involved in the 2007 assassination. The verdicts are the first to be issued since Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack nearly a decade ago, sparking street violence and plunging Pakistan into months of political turmoil. Former president and military ruler Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections.
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| Russian activist Navalny launches new attack on Putin with claim of 'secret mansion' Posted: 31 Aug 2017 10:15 AM PDT  Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has been linked to ownership of a villa complex on a scenic island near the Finnish border where a Soviet version of Sherlock Holmes was filmed, according to two investigations. It is claimed in a YouTube video, which got more than 1.8 million views in 24 hours, that Mr Putin is the owner of the Sellgren Villa on Lodochny Island in the Bay of Vyborg, a red-brick home built in 1913 and recently expanded, according to separate investigations by the independent online channel TV Rain and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. A drone flyover of the expansive property by Mr Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation showed a new 1,500-square-metre wing on the villa, a helipad, a pier, a guest house built in the same style, and a large house and garage, presumably for staff. The villa is not mentioned in the president's 2016 income and property declaration, which said he owns a 1,500-square-metre land plot, two cramped flats, three Soviet-era cars and a small cargo trailer. Mr Putin has previously been tied to a palace on the Black Sea. Google Earth view of the Finnish island where Navalny claims Putin has a "secret dacha" Mr Navalny called on supporters to demand he be allowed into next year's presidential election despite a controversial embezzlement conviction that the authorities said would bar him from running. The villa was designed by well-known Finnish architect Uno Ullberg and served as the home of German spy Von Bork in a Soviet-era Sherlock Holmes film. Lodochny Island was part of the national forest reserves until it was rezoned for the construction of a tourist base in 2012. The two investigations claim to have now linked the property, where Google Earth imagery showed construction began in 2011-13, to several longtime friends of Mr Putin. Aerial picture of Villa Selgen Grab from a video released by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny Security refused to allow TV Rain onto the property, but the channel quoted a source close to the local authorities as saying that the villa had been rebuilt as a country home for Mr Putin, who had traveled there at least once. Locals said they had seen the presidential security service guarding it from the water. Photos and plans posted to a social media group in 2012 claimed the villa was being rebuilt with a pool, billiard room, sauna and fitness complex. TV Rain reported that according to the federal property register agency, the island and buildings are controlled by a company called Sever, which was owned by Oleg Rudnov, head of the Baltic Media Group and an old friend of Mr Putin who died in 2015. Rudnov's son Sergei now owns the company. Mr Navalny said Sever also rented a building in the Konstantinovsky Palace presidential residence where Oleg Rudnov created a museum to Mr Putin, replete with his judo uniform and first car. Bare-chested Vladimir Putin goes fishing 00:55 Other Sever shareholders were tied to companies that reportedly operated the ski resort where Mr Putin's daughter got married in 2013. A sign near the entrance to the Lodochny Island property identified it as a recreational complex for the company Sibur, which is owned in part by Mr Putin's reported son-in-law Kirill Shamalov and the president's old friend Gennady Timchenko. Oleg Rudnov also ran a media company owned by Mr Putin's friend Sergei Roldugin, a cellist who the Panama Papers leak revealed to be the conduit for massive offshore holdings of the president's inner circle. Mr Navalny's YouTube exposé of prime minister Dmitry Medvedev's mansions, yachts and vineyard in Tuscany was viewed more than 22 million times this spring and inspired opposition protests around the country in March and June.
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| ‘The Daily Show's' Roy Wood Jr. Shuts Down Debate Over Confederate Symbols Posted: 31 Aug 2017 12:01 AM PDT  "The Daily Show" correspondent Roy Wood Jr. has a brilliant solution for all the controversy surrounding the confederate statues: End racism.
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| U.S. forces Russia to close three diplomatic offices ‘in the spirit of parity’ Posted: 31 Aug 2017 10:39 AM PDT  Last month, the United States was ordered to cut in half its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia. Now Russia is being asked to close its consulate in San Francisco and annex buildings in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
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| Pizza Hut Surprises Harvey Victims By Delivering Pizzas By Kayak Posted: 31 Aug 2017 08:33 AM PDT  People riding out Hurricane Harvey's destruction in a flooded Texas neighborhood received an unexpected treat of hot pizzas delivered by kayak.
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| White Paint Room Ideas and Inspiration Posted: 31 Aug 2017 03:00 PM PDT |
| Prosecutor demands trial for fraternity 'savages' in Penn State hazing death Posted: 31 Aug 2017 02:37 PM PDT ![Prosecutor demands trial for fraternity 'savages' in Penn State hazing death]( "Prosecutor demands trial for fraternity 'savages' in Penn State hazing death") A prosecutor on Thursday urged a Pennsylvania judge to try 16 fraternity members in the alcohol-fueled hazing death of a 19-year-old aiming to join the club at Pennsylvania State University. "They have been acting as out-of-control savages for so long," District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said in her closing argument at a hearing in Centre County Courthouse on whether there is enough evidence to bring the case to trial. "The Gauntlet," a drinking obstacle course in which fraternity pledges consumed large amounts of alcohol, turned into "a long night of debauchery that ended with Tim Piazza dead," Parks Miller said.
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| Trump criticised for not meeting Harvey victims and marvelling at crowd size during trip Posted: 30 Aug 2017 09:40 AM PDT  Donald Trump has been criticised for marvelling at crowd sizes and not meeting with victims of Hurricane Harvey during his brief trip to Texas. While the administration is said to be working well with state authorities to deal with the crisis caused by Harvey, critics say Mr Trump failed at fulfilling his unofficial role as 'consoler-in-chief' when he flew to Texas to meet with state officials and disaster response coordinators. David Axelrod, who served as a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, wrote in a commentary for CNN that one of the unwritten jobs of the President is to offer support and encouragement to fellow citizens on behalf of a concerned nation during times of crisis.
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| Duchess Kate dons floral Prada frock to visit Princess Diana's memorial garden on the eve of her 20th death anniversary Posted: 30 Aug 2017 07:09 AM PDT  Duchess Kate, alongside Prince Harry and Prince William, paid tribute to her mother-in-law Princess Diana with a visit to her memorial garden at Kensington Palace on the eve of her 20th death anniversary.
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| Muslims Opening Their Doors To Flood Victims: 'We Feel And Suffer The Same' Posted: 30 Aug 2017 11:00 AM PDT  Shazia Ashraf watched from a boat as her mattress floated in six feet of water in her Houston home.
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| Spain admits receiving Barcelona attack warning Posted: 31 Aug 2017 07:49 AM PDT  Spain received a warning in May that the Islamic State group was planning an attack in Barcelona but decided it lacked credibility, Catalan regional authorities said Thursday. The daily El Periodico de Cataluna reported that the US National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) had alerted Spanish intelligence officers to the threat weeks before a man ploughed his van into crowds of tourists along Barcelona's Las Ramblas boulevard on August 17, killing 14 people. "Unsubstantiated information of unknown veracity from late May 2017 indicated that the Islamic State of Irak and ash-Sham (ISIS) was planning to conducted unspecified terrorist attacks during the summer against crowded tourist sites in Barcelona, Spain, specifically La Rambla street," according to what the paper claims was an NCTC briefing note dated May 25.
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| Colorado Construction Crew Finds 66-Million-Year-Old Triceratops Fossil Posted: 31 Aug 2017 11:22 AM PDT  A Colorado scientist says he's "over the moon" after a construction crew in the city of Thornton reportedly stumbled upon a triceratops fossil last week.
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| Best Buy Sorry For Texas Store Selling $43 Bottled Water During Harvey Posted: 29 Aug 2017 08:17 PM PDT  Best Buy apologized on Tuesday for its Houston-area store that raised the price of a case of bottled water to $43 as Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on the region.
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| Baby Elephant Dies At Zoo After Mother Rejects Her Posted: 30 Aug 2017 09:21 AM PDT  She was born more than 50 pounds underweight.
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| Mexico: 7 killed in Acapulco amid ongoing wave of violence Posted: 30 Aug 2017 02:11 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Seven people have been murdered in the beach resort of Acapulco as the city continues to grapple with a violent crime wave, Mexican authorities said Wednesday.
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| If Trump pulls trigger on NAFTA withdrawal, Mexico will walk away Posted: 31 Aug 2017 12:41 PM PDT  Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Wednesday that Mexico will leave the negotiating table if U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead with a threat to start the process of withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
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| Activists decry Oregon court ruling to 'debark' dogs Posted: 31 Aug 2017 04:29 PM PDT  Debra and Dale Krein sued in 2012 after enduring years of what they deemed incessant barking by several Tibetan Mastiff dogs owned by their neighbors, Karen Szewc and John Updegraff, court documents showed. A jury awarded the Kreins $238,000, and the presiding judge ordered all the dogs on the property to undergo "total devocalization" surgery. The dogs' owners appealed that decision and the Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the judgment and surgery order.
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| Pastor tries to explain why megachurch didn't open sooner for Harvey victims Posted: 31 Aug 2017 02:20 AM PDT  Pastor Joel Osteen has defended not opening his megachurch sooner to help Hurricane Harvey victims, claiming the city "didn't ask" for his help. Osteen, a senior pastor at the 16,000-capacity Christian Lakewood Church in Houston, was heavily criticised over accusations he initially failed to offer shelter to flooding victims. The Lakewood megachurch Credit: Reuters Joel Osteen has a HUGE church in Houston that would make a great shelter. pic.twitter.com/byqHxXrHQn— Brasilmagic (@Brasilmagic) August 28, 2017 The 54-year-old televangelist, who appeared to backtrack by later opening his doors to those left homeless, has now shifted the blame onto Houston city officials. "We were just being precautious, but the main thing is the city didn't ask us to become a shelter then," he told NBC's Today Show. WATCH: "We were just being precautious, but the main thing is the city didn't ask us to become a shelter then." -Pastor @JoelOsteenpic.twitter.com/Qdn5vgm09H— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 30, 2017 He added that opening the church was unsafe at the height of the flooding, explaining: "We're all about helping people, this is what the church, and our church, is all about. "I don't know if (the criticism) is unfounded, but if people were here they would realise there was safety issues, this building had flooded before." Victoria and I care deeply about our fellow Houstonians. Lakewood's doors are open and we are receiving anyone who needs shelter.— Joel Osteen (@JoelOsteen) August 29, 2017 Thank you Houston. Your response has been overwhelming. We cannot thank enough the hundreds upon hundreds of volunteers who came out today! pic.twitter.com/hI1jl5Sry8— Lakewood Church (@lakewoodch) August 29, 2017 New statement from @JoelOsteen and Lakewood Church in regards to Hurricane Harvey backlash pic.twitter.com/KLMNYysc6s— Anastasia (@AnastasiaElyseW) August 29, 2017 Osteen continued: "It's easy to say, 'Wow, there's that building. They're not using it.' But we don't have volunteers. "We don't have staff that could get here. We're all about helping the city whenever we could - if they would have asked us to become a shelter early on, we would have prepared for it." Houston's @indivisible_usa is acquainted with @JoelOsteen's Lakewood Church. They took these pics about an hour ago w/ commentary. pic.twitter.com/YTWrD9UG1z— Charles Clymer��️�� (@cmclymer) August 28, 2017 The church initially said it was "inaccessible due to severe flooding", however photos shared on social media showed no flood damage and suggested it could be reached. One critic tweeted the pastor: "If you were a real Christian, you'd be opening your doors to your displaced neighbours." The church later opened its doors Credit: AP Pastor Osteen responded to the criticism, insisting: "We have never closed our doors." The church later opened its doors to flood victims following the barrage of online criticism. Meanwhile, many inspiring acts of heroism and kindness have emerged from the devastation of Harvey. Hurricane Harvey hits Texas, in pictures
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| The World's Driest Desert Blooms With Hundreds Of Flowers After Rare Rain Posted: 31 Aug 2017 09:49 AM PDT  The Atacama desert in Chile, widely referred to as the world's driest desert, is currently experiencing a truly breathtaking phenomenon.
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| Iraq announces another major victory over IS jihadists Posted: 31 Aug 2017 11:08 AM PDT  Iraq declared on Thursday that its forces had retaken the northern city of Tal Afar and the surrounding region, in another major victory over Islamic State group jihadists. IS, which seized nearly a third of Iraq in 2014 in a humiliating defeat for the army and police, now controls barely 10 percent of the country, according to the US-led international coalition ranged against the jihadists. The fall of Tal Afar, located in the northern province of Nineveh, deprives IS of what was once a key supply hub between its territory in Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
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| The 77 Most Delish Casseroles Posted: 31 Aug 2017 12:14 PM PDT |
